rockslide RS10 motor upgrades?

[wminmi]

Curious what motors you guys with the rockslide rs10 are running?

Will the stock ESC handle brushless?

Thanks in advance

[TheLetterJ]

What is your goal? More power? More speed? More efficiency?

Honestly, after upping the voltage, those little 390's finally woke up. I mostly ran on 3s and thought it was adequate, but could use just a little more... on 4s the power was just what the Dr. ordered (as well as having twice the wheel speed as compared to 2s), but you need to drive extra cautiously to keep the axle shafts alive. I switched back to 3s as it was the best balance of power and reliability for me.

The stock ESC is pretty crappy and can only handle 2s (though some people were able to turn off the high voltage cutoff by going through the programming sequence, which could allow 3s) and the bec is pretty weak too, especially if you're powering 2 servos. I just had a $25 Hobbywing WP860 ESC and a Castle BEC to allow 3/4s. Hobbywing recently released the WP880, which is better in every way, but still budget friendly (~$33.)

If you're looking for more speed... you bought the wrong car... but any 370 or 380 size motor will fit, so look at the stock motors from smaller scale vehicles like a Traxxas Teton, ECX Barrage, etc. If you want to spend more on (nice) motors than the whole rest of the car cost, I believe the Holmes Hobbies Puller 400's can fit: https://holmeshobbies.com/motors/bru...uller-400.html

Probably the easiest/most cost effective way to go brushless would be a pair of small outrunners (like what is used in small airplanes) and 2 esc's, but I'm just not sure I see the benefit of doing so unless you've managed to seriously beef up your axle shafts (assuming you've already replaced the drive pin inside the spool with a steel one, possibly even add steel gears.) If you're not a fan of outrunners, you'll want a standard inrunner (that is most common in surface rc's) that is sensored, otherwise you'll have to deal with cogging on startup. Unfortunately, there are very few sensored 370/380/390 sized motors out there, and you'd likely be looking at ~$300 for the pair of motors and esc's, so you really need to evaluate what you're after before diving in.

[wminmi]

Thanx for the reply, i appreciate that.

Basically I am looking for better run times and maybe slight more top end. I understand it's a crawler (not my 1st, my 2nd actually) so not worried about top speed much.

i am currently running the stock 2000mah nimh battery and all other electronics are stock, which is most of the issue i am sure. And maybe more efficient running if thats even possible.

For upgrades i just received the metal gears (for front and rear), high steer rods from Crawford and awaiting some MG 20kg servos to arrive. I have yet to locate the solid pins though, but thinking i may have some in a container somewhere that would suffice.

[TheLetterJ]

I'm thinking that just the switch to 3s is going to do exactly what you're after. This esc https://www.amainhobbies.com/hobbywi...SABEgI6F_D_BwE will give you the ability to run 2s-4s, and has a 6v/4a bec (a little higher voltage to the servos than the stock esc, and double the amperage, so you *should* be able to run both of those 20kg servos without brown outs) and it's got all the programmable features of the ever popular wp1080 esc, just with dual motor outputs.

Your nimh is the same physical size as a 5000mah 2s/3s, so you could either go with a big lipo, or drop down to a smaller/lighter lipo and STILL have longer run times. For example, 2000mah 7.2 nimh has 14.4 watt/hours, and a 2200mah 3s has 24.4 watt/hours, so nearly double the runtime, nearly double the available power, at about 1/2 the size/weight. Remember, higher voltage equals higher peak rpm of an electric motor, so going from 7.2v to 11.1v will give a nice increase in top end too.

[wminmi]

Thanx "J", i think you are right

[nightcrawler48]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

I'm thinking that just the switch to 3s is going to do exactly what you're after. This esc https://www.amainhobbies.com/hobbywi...SABEgI6F_D_BwE will give you the ability to run 2s-4s, and has a 6v/4a bec (a little higher voltage to the servos than the stock esc, and double the amperage, so you *should* be able to run both of those 20kg servos without brown outs) and it's got all the programmable features of the ever popular wp1080 esc, just with dual motor outputs.

Your nimh is the same physical size as a 5000mah 2s/3s, so you could either go with a big lipo, or drop down to a smaller/lighter lipo and STILL have longer run times. For example, 2000mah 7.2 nimh has 14.4 watt/hours, and a 2200mah 3s has 24.4 watt/hours, so nearly double the runtime, nearly double the available power, at about 1/2 the size/weight. Remember, higher voltage equals higher peak rpm of an electric motor, so going from 7.2v to 11.1v will give a nice increase in top end too.

Just want to say thanks to "J" for the 3s recommendation. I had changed the pinions to 10T and still no wheel speed at all, on 2s. Wasn't sure if the little 390 motors could take 3s so was reluctant to try it. After reading "J"s post I decided that "no guts, no glory" and ran the RS10 today with 3s for about 45 minutes. Right on the money! I'm much happier with it now and even the stock tires seemed to wake up a bit with a little more wheel speed. My RS10 had sat on the shelf for about 3 years, I think, and after today's test run it just might see the light of day more often.